LINCOLN, Neb.  The duo most responsible for the biggest surprise team in women's basketball hugged at center court on senior night last week, both too focused on winning to get overwhelmed by emotion.

Connie Yori, coach of undefeated and third-ranked Nebraska, is a no-nonsense workaholic who has spent most of her adult life in a state most noted for football success and corn production.

Kelsey Griffin is a tough-minded Alaskan whose on-court efforts have boosted the normally irrelevant Cornhuskers to national prominence.

The 6-2 senior, a national player-of-the-year candidate who was named Monday as Big 12 player of the year, and Yori, league coach of the year, have led this remarkable run, transforming a 15-16 squad into a 29-0 champ of Division I's top-rated conference according to the RPI.

Yet before the final home game March 3, when it seemed logical for the two to savor their accomplishments, neither flinched. Smiling, they treated the pregame ceremony as if it were part of their everyday routine. Then Griffin had 18 points and nine rebounds as the 'Huskers cruised past Kansas 77-52, their 23rd double-digit win of the season.

Tear-filled moments of reflection can wait. This Nebraska group has its eyes on a title.

"We hope that we still have a long ways to go in this season," Yori said.

The 'Huskers' turnaround, as computed by the NCAA, is on pace to be at least the eighth-best since 1981-82, when the NCAA took over college women's basketball. Before this season, the program had eight NCAA tournament bids. Before clinching the Big 12 regular-season title last month, Nebraska hadn't won a conference crown in 22 years, when it was in the late Big Eight.

Crowds average 7,390, up more than 2,000 from the season record set 11 years ago. That will help the program pull in about $400,000 more than budgeted, according to Marc Boehm, executive associate athletics director. He said ticket and concession sales have doubled this season. But the program, typical of women's basketball, will fall about $1 million short of its $2.2 million expense.

Nobody could have expected this kind of success — except maybe Yori.

A year ago, the 'Huskers had their first losing season since Yori arrived in 2002-03, though much of that can be traced to losing Griffin to an injury before practice started.

But Yori will tell you she's been silently predicting for some time a breakout was imminent. Now, with a healthy Griffin surrounded by experienced role players, Nebraska is closer to reaching the sport's pinnacle than ever.

It feels gratifying, Griffin said. It's just that slowing down now is not an option.

"I'm comfortable but not satisfied," she said. "We want to have confidence in the way that we're playing but never be satisfied. Stay humble. Keep getting back into practice and getting better."

Praise from opposing coaches

There's a reason seemingly every coach who has dissected video of this team starts complimenting Yori and her bunch.

Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale was so captivated that she momentarily forgot to analyze specific player tendencies.

"You watch them be good together, and it ceases to be about those individual players, who are so very good in their own right," Coale said. "It becomes about how good they are together. And I think that's been their magic."

It starts with Griffin, whose toughness has inspired the team on and off the court. A cracked rib, broken nose, enlarged spleen, mononucleosis and asthma-like breathing problems haven't kept her from suiting up at various points — though she missed last season because her left foot needed surgery after she was hurt in a pickup game.

The two-time all-Big 12 first-teamer who came to Nebraska from Eagle River, Alaska, in part because her grandparents live about three hours away in Iowa, rehabbed her way to this season's team lead in scoring (20.4 a game) and rebounding (10.4). Her 53 assists, 54 steals and 21 blocked shots all rank second. Nobody has drawn more offensive fouls.

"I know there's some great players at UConn, but you see what she does on a daily basis," Yori said. "She's my player of the year. If I had a vote, I'd vote for her."

As for the supporting cast: senior Cory Montgomery was the leading scorer last season; senior Yvonne Turner is the top perimeter defender; junior guard Dominique Kelley is a shooter who is more apt to embrace contact on drives to the basket; freshman point guard Lindsey Moore has started every game and is fifth in the Big 12 in assists.

Yori can also bring in senior guards Nicole Neals and Kala Kuhlmann and junior forward Catheryn Redmon. She uses her bench frequently, hoping her up-tempo motion offense and full-court pressure can drain opponents of their stamina.

"If you want to call them bench players ... I think it's really hard to do that because you really share time," Griffin said. "That's our style. They've helped us be successful."

Offseason work set stage

A year ago, Nebraska ended a season of disappointment with maybe its most frustrating display. The 'Huskers lost a second-round WNIT game at New Mexico 54-43, making 11 shots and committing 17 turnovers.

The postgame feeling "was horrible," Turner remembered.

But at that point, Yori was already thinking ahead. The preparation for next season starts now, she told a dejected group slated to return all but one player.

The players listened. For the first time, every returnee stayed on campus for both five-week summer school sessions. They worked out together constantly. They played pickup games, including every other Sunday driving 50 miles to play members of the Creighton women's team.

The 'Huskers also split into small groups, each mini-team making sure all of its members worked to improve.

"For the most part, everybody bought into it," Kelley said. "Everybody had a really good attitude, hence we're (undefeated)."

Is it really that simple?

In many ways, Yori says it is. "I've said it a lot: What we did in the offseason was what set us up to have this kind of season."

But Nebraska still had work to do as practice began in October. Defense was at the top of the list.

Yori's seven previous Nebraska teams all were in the lower half of the Big 12 in scoring defense and opponents' field goal percentage.

Hoping to reverse the trend, Yori devoted several preseason practices to perfecting the basic principles of her help-and-recover man-to-man defense, something that requires five individuals executing flawlessly.

Any mistake? Everybody ran.

"Before, we talked about it a lot, showed film a lot," Yori said. "Finally, this year, I said we've got to penalize them for our breakdowns. ... Some of them didn't like it very much early on."

But all say they're better for it. The 'Huskers might not have pulled out a 65-56 win Jan. 17 at Baylor if they hadn't held the Bears to one field goal in the final five minutes. They forced eight turnovers in the last eight minutes Feb. 10 in a 67-60 win at Kansas. Three days later, they finished an 82-78 win at Missouri with five consecutive takeaways.

They clinched the Big 12 regular-season title Feb. 24 with a 16-point victory at Oklahoma, mainly because the Sooners managed one free throw after taking a 63-62 lead with 3:33 remaining.

They now stand third in Big 12 scoring defense (57.5 points a game) and fifth in opponents' field goal percentage (.383).

"What Coach Yori asked, demanded of us during the offseason and into the preseason is a huge reason we've been able to be successful," Griffin said.

Griffin and the 'Huskers begin play in the Big 12 tournament Friday as the No. 1 seed. They could be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament as well.

Yori plans to set lofty expectations in games and practices: "This team can handle it. ... We want to push them to be great. But they want to be great, so they're willing to take that."

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